April 14, 2009

Coleman’s Appeal

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From USA Today:

A Minnesota court court has confirmed that Democrat Al Franken won the most votes in his 2008 Senate race against Republican Norm Coleman, The Associated Press reports.

But, as the saying goes, it ain’t over til it’s over. Coleman already had said he would appeal such a decision to the state Supreme Court. He has 10 days to file.

So here’s something to watch for: how long will it take Coleman to file his appeal?  He’s known this decision was coming for a long time.  His legal team almost certainly knew the grounds on which he was going to lose.  They’ve had plenty of time to prepare their argument.  They could probably file it tomorrow if they wanted to.

But do they want to?  If they’re genuinely trying to win a Senate seat, they’ll file quickly.  After all, the faster they file, the faster Coleman can win the case and return in triumph to Washington.  But if they don’t think they can win — if they’re merely trying to stretch out a losing argument as long as possible in order to deny Franken his seat — then they’ll wait the ten full days.  Which do you think it will be?

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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